This research will examine the effects of income, age at marriage, education, and occupation on marital stability. A causal model which orders these variables will be tested using longitudinal data of approximately 20,000 individuals collected over a five year period. The multivariate analysis of the longitudinal data allows the determination of the direction of influence among the variables. The effects of the characteristics of each spouse on stability will be determined and the applicabilty of the model for blacks and whites will be tested.